Hay sling



April 7, 1953 1 F. oBRlEN 2,634,154

f HAY sLING Filed July 14, 1949 2 SHEETS- SHEET 1 j q JJ jja 11d-f2 j" .2. ,ya Jj 11p 1J d Li ,//4 115 112114,15

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L. F. O'BRIEN April 7, 1953 HAY SLING 2 sl-xEETs-SHEET 2 Filed July 14, 1949 Patented Apr. 7, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Y' HAY SLING Y i Lee F. vOBren, `Batavim Ill. `ApplicationJ lily 414, 1949, Serial No. 104,612

stanti-ally simultaneously? and substantially inv a a single spot, resulting Ain shock on the hayloft floor lor other place of-deposit-'Whic'h was very unde- 4'sirable Iand -sometimes'resultedin damage.- In "my Patent No.j 2,431,194," issued November 18, 1947; I'disclosedand claimed a type of hay sling 'which' operated to give a farming or wider dis- `\tribution of balesjat -th'e time ofthe release `in order to minimize the shock-and avoid localiza- 'tion ofbale impact. g

`My 'present inventionshere being dis-closed and claimed constitute improvements not only over the priorartbut also over the type of sling shown in my above mentioned Patent No. 2,431,194, the '-Lsling'here'V disclosed -beinga4 carrying forward and vfurther improvement Of'the basicv inventions s'hoWn-inmy earlier patent. ffOne #feature or improvement ofthe present sling lis theusefof alifting beam `which is substantially shorter than the length of the stack of bales being lifted. This results in the chains or otherflexible members pulling in` tightly on the end baleslbfthetopfrow of the stackproviding a betterrand more stable grip-during hoisting vand movement ofthe stacker bales. vThe consider- "alrll'einward-'force or gripthus providedat each y l*endoi'\'tlieiop row of bales, particularlyein con- `junction withthe' relocation of the releasemechianismpfas hereinafterf described, provides` a rbtvlckling actionoff the bales vwhen the release mechanism is actuated, increasing the fanning or spreading ofthe bales upon their discharge .-fron'iuthesling. The-tight gripfonlthetop row ialsoy slowsA down the` movement of Mthe bales out 'Yfof'thels'tackvwhen the releasemechanism is operlated, so that-therefisfnot only thewider'fdistri- Ebuti'onl off-bales but-'valso a greater time Vinterval fbetween the time theflrst bale strikes the hayloft iloor and' the time the last part of the load strikes it.` i f y Another improvementor feature of the sling ebeing 'here 0disclosed 'is the'l location1-ofthe'lef leasing mechanism immediately under and closely rgadjacent'` the ,lifting` beam. f In lconjunction `with theuselof the'short beam, as mentionedimmedigatelyab'ova lthis:improves the dischargenperation 56 c1aims. (c1. 294-75) of the sling. Inraddition, it very greatly` facilitates handling of the chains or other `flexible members, enablingthe final connections ,to the f lifting beam to be made much more conveniently than has heretofore Abeen possible with my,` sling. This is particularly true in connection with round bales, which have heretofore presented greatdifculty in handling with any sling.` r A. I

Another feature or improvement hereby ,rst disclosed is the use of long chains or flexible-bottom members of such length that they extend Cnotvfonly up the endsof the s'tackbutvalsothere- .particularly `with a releasing mechanism'at or `immediately under thelifting beam.t0 provide cross-pieces at the ends of the stack, at leastpart .way up such ends, as thisminimizes .whipping of the one chain or flexible member upon operation ofthe releasing mechanism. Y i.'

Other features andV advantages of :this kinvention will be apparent from the following specification and the drawings in which: .l f

Figure `1 is a top -plan view` of the surfaceoffa hayrack or wagon with four4 stacks of baled hay thereon, each stack havingh a pair of bottom sling members thereunder;.,Figure. 2 is a side elevation ofthe bed of the hay wagon looking from;, the

.bottom of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a separate `View of one pair of spaced Iapart bottom ,members and .their interconnecting `flexible cross-members, the :relative location of a stack of Vbalesof hay thereon being indicated in dotted lines; Figure 4 Iisna side `elevation of astack of bales of hay. being .lifted by thesling; Figure 5`is an end-elevation of thebales as shownin Figure 4, looking from the left of such gureyFigure .6 :is aside eleva- .,tonal view of astackof `roundbales of hay being .lifted bymy sling; Figure? iscanenlarged fragmentary elevational.view'A o f.` the lifting beam and associated uitingmechanismw racking attac` left of Figure 4; Figure 8 is an enlarged detailedview of the same end of thelifting beam `partlyginsection; and Figure 9 is asideelevationahviewof the releasing mechanism. Referring now to the particular embodimentgof my inventionstas illustrated in the: accompanying drawing; the general.construction,;arrange ment and operation of myimproved haylsling will nbe described. However, since the, generaloperation of-such a slinghasjbeendescribed fully;A in

3 my above mentioned Patent No. 2,431,194, the present description will be concerned particularly with those features and differences which constitute improvements and reference may be had to my earlier patent, if desired, to supplement the present disclosure.

Inasmuch as the four stacks of bales of hay and the four sets of bottom members or sling members shown on the bed II) of the hayrack in Figures 1 and 2 `are identical, only one will be described in detail, it being understood that the others are similar. Referring now to the stack or pile of bales of hay II forming one of the stacks on the bed of a hayrack, it will be seen that these are here illustrated as rectangular bales. In practice, such bales have dimensions which are generally in the neighborhoodof 14' x .18", with a length normally between 36 and 44". A stack comprising three rows of four eachywhich I find most convenient and have illustrated here, ythereby comprises a stackabout 6 feet long 'by from 3 to 3% vfeet .wide by .about 3.1/2 feetshigh.

Beneath .such a stack, `having been placed ktherebefore .the bales are placed on the wagon vbed, isa slingarrangement here shown as comapri'sing a 'pair of lspaced apartilexible members I2 and I3 interconnected by flexible cross-members I4, I5 and I6. Theseflexible members are lpreferably chains although it -will be understood ythatth'ey may-also be-of rope, cable, or the like.

"While I nd it satisfactory to use the-crossmem bers in theirflexible condition, they may also be coveled'with hose or tubing as illustrated in my "earlierpatent Merely as vrepresentative dimensions and with no intention of any limitations -with .respect to dimensions I may state -that I "have found it desirable to use flexible members I2 and I3 of a length of about 17 feet and with a :spacing of .about 2 feet with stacks of bales of Shay .of the character just illustrated :and described, and to place one flexible cross-.member Ain'ithe `center and the others about 3 feet to 31/2 feet'in from each end.

Having the bottom .members of such. length -proves advantageousv when the rackV is being `loaded. Referring more particularly `to Figures 1 and 2, it will be seen that .the outermost .ends fof'the pairs of exible members may be thrown Aup over'the laddersat each end of .the bed, as

ltheladders I'I and I8, in which position .they will Iremain while the vbales are being loaded. Moreoverpthe flexible members toward theside edges of -the bed of the hayrack maybe permitted to "-dr'ag over `.the side yasimay be best seenn Figure -`2,'wheresuch ends will be readily Yaccessible when it'isvdesired to hook onto `the liftingbeam. The

only-ends which are the less accessible are .those :towardzthe center of the bed of the wagon and difficulty in reaching these ends when the wagon 'isfto be unloadedmay beavoidedVif desired, by

vdra-wing these up over each row of bales as addi- 'tional .rows of bales are placed .on each stack.

This latter method of `handling the members mis fpractically a `necessity inthe case of round bales,

which otherwise roll toward each other in such a Jway. as `to .makeit very difficult Vto get to .the

-ends'ofthe flexible members. I-Iowever, .bydrawinglthe outer endsof these members up overeach succeeding row as the round bales are `loaded, `iall 'ends are readilyavailable for hooking onto thelifting beam when the wagonis .driven into the barn and the bales are to be hoisted.

Referring. now. more .particularly to .Fig-ures 4 landj5,the completedhaysling Yor hoist is illus- `trated. When the -wagonhas beendriven Yinto the barn or other place of unloading, the lifting beam 20 is lowered by the hoisting cable 2| to a position closely adjacent the top of the stack or pile of bales, or even lying on top of the stack to be lifted, and the ends of the flexible members I2 and I3 are then hooked onto connecting means provided for this purpose.

As may be best seen in Figures 7 and 8, I prefer to use a metal tube or pipe for the lifting beam 22, and at each end I provide a ;y'oke.member, 'these being here identified as 2'2 'and"23. As a matter of manufacturing cheapness, these yoke members may be formed of separated parts welded together in assembly, as is best seen in Figure 8. That is, the parts 22a and 22D may be Yinserted from the top of the beam through openings provided for that purpose and welded at their lower ends to the U-shaped portion 22e. It will be also understood that any other form providing a welded or threaded attachment may be used, just so that there is an-eyelet -or the like at each end ofthe lifting .beam y,providing a support for the connectingmeans. The .connecting means -at one .endof the beam, `as maybe best seen in vFigure 8, ,comprises a releasing mechanism or trippingfmechanism indicated in general as 24, adaptedY to bemanuallyioperated by a trippingor releasing line'25 controlled .by the operator; and a hook. 26 preferably connected to the U-shaped member 22 by .several lchain lengths 21 in order to make the Apoint `of connection with a flexible bottomv member of the sling at approximately lthe ysame `distance .from the beam. .As may be best seen in Figure 9,.the releasing mechanism is of a character such lthat a link at the end of the flexible bottommember I3 may be held as longaas desredbut will `be .released upon manual .operation of `the Y,tripping releasable during liftingand holding of the load,

as was also the case in the sling disclosed in rmy earlier patent.

Referring now again more particularly .to Figures 4 and 5, when the connections have .been

Ymade and the hoisting arrangementstarted, the

hoisting line 2| lifts'the beam until the .flexible sling members'tighten and .pick luptheload, the situation then being as illustrated in these rtwo figures. I find it preferable to make vthe length of the lifting vbeam Very much shorter than the length of the stack of bales being lliftedso that ythe chains or flexible members bind inwardly over the top corners ofthe stack, extending in at an angle of 30 or 40 to the verticalas illus,-

`trated. With a stack of the .generalchara'cter heretofore described, having a .length of about .6 feet, I find it preferable'to makeitheilength of thebeamii. e., the effective :lengthfrom U-bolt to .U-bolt) betWeenone-half and three-quarters of the length of the stack, a very satisfactory :beam .length in this regard having '.'proved .to be about 40 inches. Having theflexible sling membersbind inwardly over'the ends of .thestack not Aonly stabilizes thezhold'onithestack avoiding any possibility vof loss of a bale upon iaccidental colli- Jsion with anrafter or the like, :butalso has Nery Kadvantageous features in fconnec'tionfwith. the discharge ofthe bales. By having the beam length shorter than the stack length and thereleasing mechanism at or near the beam, the onecorner-only release whichiwasl a feature of my earlier patent,` is still further improved; This arrangement causes an accentuated buckling of the stack upon release with a'wider distribution or fanning of the bales, togetherV with a fric# tionalret'ardation .of bale movement such that the total discharge time is increased and the bales do not strike the loft floor or other place of storage as close together` as `was even the` case with my previous sling. 1 4 f.

In order to minimize whippingfof that end of the flexible memberwhich' is connected to the releasing mechanism and released upon tripping thereof, Ihave found it desirableto have 'one of theflflexible .cross-members, as `the "-member! i4 2illustrated Figure 5,.-up theVIV end of the stack of bales rather than having all of such crossmembers beneath the stack of bales. However, in order to get the best discharge action, the crossmember must not be further up above the bottom of the stack than its own length. That is, with a cross-member of a length of about 2 feet, it should preferably be located up from the bottom of the stack only about 11/2 feet or 1% feet so that when the one of the pair of parallel bottom members is released, all support for the one corner of the stack will drop away.

Referring now more particularly to Figure 6, the same sling illustrated and described heretofore is shown handling a stack of circular bales of hay here identified as 3D. While rectangular bales are still by far the most common forms,

cylindrical bales are coming into some usage. Those most commonly encountered today have a length of the same order as the rectangular bales, and a diameter generally of the order of 12 to 15 inches, although it is understood that my device is in no way limited to bales of any particular size. With circular bales, the stacks if made in three rows of four as illustrated in Figure 6, will only have a length of from 4 to 5 feet, so that the inward angle of the upper portions of the flexible sling members is not as great as with a longer stack. However, the inward angle is still sui'licient with a 40 inch beam to provide considerable inward grip or binding action on the top row of bales and to achieve the advantages described in connection with the stack of bales previously referred to. Moreover, my sling is about the only satisfactory sling which can handle round bales of hay without the necessity for reloading or shifting them at the point where they are to be hoisted. By throwing one pair of ends of the flexible members over the ladders at each end of the bed of the hayrack, as previously described, and by throwing the other ends up over each row as the round bales are loaded, connection to the beam may be readily made at the point of hoisting and even if the stack has shifted out of position the sling will properly lift the stack of round bales, enabling it to be hoisted up, run down the track way to a desired point, and discharged in the same manner as with the stack of rectangular bales.

While I have shown and described certain embodiments of my invention, it is to be underthat it is capable of many modifications. Changes, therefore, in the construction and arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as disclosed in the appended'claims.

Iiclaim: y 1 L 1. A sling for baled hayand the like, including: a pair of spaced apart flexible bottom members adapted to have bales of hay and the like stacked thereon in a generally rectangular stack of a partticular'predetermined size; a rigid lifting beam extending parallel to said bottom members and being substantiallyshorter than the length ofthe stack it is adapted to accommodate; and means for connecting said `bottom members and .the ends of said beam, one *connectiontoone `end of one bottom member including a manually operable releasing mechanism `andi the other connectionsbeing held against4 manual releasev during lifting` of the load, whereby operation ofsaid releasing lmechanism causes a relatively slow discharge anda spreading of theload` l2` A sling for baled hay andlithe ilke; including: afpairfof spaced apart'lflexible bottom members adapted to have bales ofxhay andthelikeistacke'd thereon in a generally rectangular stack of a length about equal to the width of four bales of hay; a rigid lifting beam extending parallel to said bottom members and having a length only slightly over half that of the stack; and means for connecting said bottom members and the ends of said beam, one connection to one end of one bottom member including a manually operable releasing mechanism and the other connections being held against manual release during lifting of the load, whereby operation of said releasing mechanism causes a relatively slow discharge and a spreading of the load.

3. A sling for baled hay and the like, including; a pair of spaced apart iexible bottom members adapted to have bales of hay and the like stacked thereon in a generally rectangular stack, said bottom members having a length more than twice that of the stack; a rigid lifting beam extending parallel to said bottom members and being substantially shorter than the length of the stack; and means for connecting said bottom members and the ends of said beam, one connection to one end of one bottom member including a manually operable releasing mechanism located adjacent said beam and the other connections being held against manual release during lifting of the load, whereby operation of said releasing mechanism causes a relatively slow discharge and a spreading of the load.

4. A sling for baled hay and the like, including: a pair of spaced apart nexible bottom members adapted to have bales of hay and the like stacked thereon in a generally rectangular stack, said bottom members having a length more than twice that of the stack; a rigid lifting beam extending parallel to said bottom members and having a length between half and three-quarters of that of the stack; and means for connecting said bottom members and the ends of said beam, one connection to one end of one bottom member including a manually operable releasing mechanism located adjacent said beam and the other connections being held against manual release during lifting of the load, whereby operation of said releasing mechanism causes a relatively slow discharge and a spreading of the load.

5. A sling for baled hay and the like, including: a pair of spaced apart flexible bottom members adapted to have bales of hay and the like stacked thereon in a generally rectangular stack, said bottom members having a length more than twice that of the stack and being interconnected by exiblefcross-members beneath the stack and beyond the ends of the stack; a rigid lifting beam extending parallel to said bottom members :and having a length between ,'half :and 'three-quarters ofithatof thefstack it isad-apzted tofaccommodate; and'means for connecting said lbottomfmembers andtheendsxof'said ibeam, one connection'to one endl of-.on'e :bottom member including a Vmanually operable releasingrmechanism andithe othergcon-v nebtions 'being;heldfgainstananualrelease during lifting of thefload.

f6. qzsling for baled hay, including: a -pair lof spaceitlrapart;"flexiblezboctorn members adapted to haveiza ipredetermined `number of ibalesof hay stacked Vthereon :tn Afform a :generally `rectangular .stackpsaidxbottommembersfhavinga length more threefquarters of v.that Aof the `stack it is adapted to accommodate; :and means yfor vconnecting said bottom members and `theends of said beam, :one connection to `one end of one ,bottom Vmember including :a manually operable releasing mechanism and 'the other connections Abeing held against .manual releaseduring lifting'of .the load whereby yoperation :of ,said .releasing "mechanism causes 'a relativelyslow :discharge and a :spread ing ofzthelload. n

OBRIEN.

IREFERENCES CITED V'The following 'references are of record fin Athe le of this patent:

Number `Name Date v 798,560 Von Bechto'lsheim ,Aug 29, 1995 1,6215604 'Ruggles `Mar.'22 ,V 1927 20 '2,431,194 OBrien Nov. 18, A19,47 

